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Category Archives: music
Bollywood a la Gangnam
If you think Gangnam is so darn original, think twice. Bollywood has been entertaining us for eons in Gangnam style. And they have not run hush hush to obtain a patent …
I don’t know how long we will talk about Gangnam but one thing is sure, Bollywood will endure the test of time.
R.I.P Ravi Shankar
RIP Ravi Shankar
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The Greatest. He will live on forever on the wings of his music.
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Khiladi786’s genius soundtrack
I am going to watch Khiladi this weekend, and I am excited. Not so much because I love bodies flying through the air, car collisions and firecracker-Kung-Fu. Well, I do love Akki, but that’s besides the point.
My autistic and predominantly non-verbal student LOVES Bollywood music, so whenever a new movie comes out I am showing him the trailer and the songs. I show him Stardust magazines with all its glamorous Bollywood stars. When I point and ask him “who is this?” he will identify the star with 100% accuracy. On our frequent walks I may start humming a BW tune and lo and behold he will know one or two lines of the lyrics -without understanding a word. Point in case I was humming after a very long hiatus Chammak Challo and he knew the title and who’s acting in the movie.
Today I was telling him about the upcoming Khiladi and I went on Youtube to show him the trailer and then the songs. I had seen the trailer but I had no idea how many beautiful tunes it had!
From my student’s point of view here are the songs he liked best: (with passionate repeat-listening..)
Hookah Bar
music and lyrics and vocals by Himesh Reshammiya
in second place came The Lonely Song, credits go again to Himesh and Yo Yo Honey Singh & Hamsika Iyer
Lyrics by: Shabbir Ahmed
followed by Saari Saari Raat also by the ultra-talented Himeshji, GEE!!
and we liked Long Drive, music Himesh. sing sing: Mika Singh
for some reason Balmo came last in our favorite countdown:
music Himesh, singers Shreya Ghoshal and Sreeram
I mean, this movie is a musical treasure chest
and off I go to buy the CD :-)
can’t wait to see these beautiful songs on the big screen!!
– which makes me laugh because before my Bollywood mania days I DESPISED music and dance in movies. Go figure. What a turnaround.
Thank you Youtube, Eros Entertainment and T-series for all these great Bollywood video clips
And thanks Bollywood for adding another dimension to my life. With its colors, its music, its stars, it just brings so much joy, not just to me but all the peeps I can share this passion with. Like my wonderful student.
Mika Singh – popular Bollywood songwriter, singer, performer in his own rights
you probably know best his songs from Singh is King and the Desi Boyz
but he’s got many more goodies hidden under his sleaves..and here are some of my favorites:
IBn-E-Batuta
Desi Beat – Bodyguard
Ganpat
Watching Namaste America (the only Bollywood program available on my optimum cable, Saturdays at 10 am on channel 48) there was a segment on Mika Singh, one of Bollywood’s top playback singers. You can’t help it but dance to his bouncy songs..
in case you missed him in Singapore at the IIFA 2012
Mika Singh live performance Singapore IIFA 2012
I did…
so I looked him up on wiki and walked away IMPRESSED. I know very little about the playback singers and songwriters in India but I have heard their songs of course. I try to catch them live, very often I hear too late about their US appearances. Mika I have missed. Apparently he was on a US tour. Too bad. I got to catch him on Youtube :-)
from his wikipedia page:
Mika is a singer, composer, performer and songwriter. He is considered[by whom?] an acclaimed musician and most of all the ‘Powerhouse Entertainer’.[citation needed] Amongst a wide catalog of smash hits, the prominent ones remain “Singh Is King” (Singh Is King), “Mauja Hi Mauja” (Jab We Met), “Idn-e-Batuta” (Ishqiya), “Dhanno” (Houseful), “Dhin Chika” (Ready), “Desi Beat” (Body Guard), “Subah Hone Na De” (Desi Boys), “Pungi” (Agent Vinod), “Ganpat” (Shootout at Lokhandwala), Gabru (album) and Sawan Mein Lag Haye Aag (album), to name a few. He is also famous for “Jaatan (Jat) ka chora” song which is based on Jat clan (Haryana)Rani tu mi RajaSon of Sardaar.
Early life
Mika was born on June 10, 1977 at Durgapur, and brought up in Patna, Bihar with his brother Daler Mehndi. Although born and raised in Bihar, he is a Punjabi. His father, Ajmer Singh Chandan, was a classical musician and amateur wrestler. His mother, Balbir Kaur, took interest in folk music and is a state level amateur wrestler. He is the youngest of six brothers.
Discography
“Dancing with the Stars” sizzles with Bollywood flavor
AWESOME!
Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd
Season 14: Derek Hough and Maria Menounos
BUT I LOVED BEST THIS ROCKING BHANGRA:
Derek Hough and Shawn Johnson dancing to Bhangra
SHABASH! :-)
I bet it’s not the last time we will get Bollywood-inspired dances on this show. They are always a sure hit.
Even though the guys are all doing a good job…. Bollywood-moves are not in our exactly in our collective DNA. Maybe they should invite Hrithik :-)
one of my favorite Atif songs “Woh Lamhe”
I was chopping up something in the kitchen while I had my favorite Saturday program on in the background, “Namaste America” – I had to quickly drop everything when I heard Atif’s beloved voice from afar singing Woh Lamhe, one of his most beautiful songs. I haven’t seen the movie Zeher, but I heard Atif sing this song in Atlantic City few years back and I think it was this song that made me fall in love with him..
Namaste America played some wonderful songs today dedicated to “rain”. Bollywood’s rain songs are lyrical and sexy. Don’t we all love our Bollywood stars soaking in the rain?
God only knows how many stars caught colds filming those.. but hey, we enjoy them.
And when rain mingles with Atif’s voice it turns into honey.. so here is to rain and to Atif.
if I wanted to decorate my pillows with Bollywood songs…
you know, the way they put a piece of fine chocolate on your pillow in either very small and fancy or big and expensive hotels…. well, I’d go for a Bollywood song from my Favorites Collection :-)
[These ones are for you, Scotty! :-) some you know, some you don’t…]
Marjaani Marjaani from Billu Barber (Shahrukh Khan)
Kajra Re from Bunty Aur Babli (Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya)
Jan Pehechan Ho by Mohammed Rafi from Gumnaam
Salaam E Ishq (Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra)
Subha Hone Na De from Desi Boyz (Akshay Kumar and John Abraham)
YESSS, LET’S CELEBRATE LIFE!! IT COMES ALONG ONLY ONCE… as far as we know…
or multiple times? parallel? haha… WHATEVER!
Preity Zinta – Happening from Main Aur Mrs Khanna
Bumbro from Mission Kashmir (Preity and Hrithik Roshan)
good nite, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.
Jannat 2 – not exactly a review
(I am reposting, since yesterday’s post didn’t show up on wordpress. same post, added my two favorite songs)
Initially, cross my heart, I didn’t even want to see the movie. I read reviews that weren’t very favorable and I don’t like the genre. I need to be dragged to see any film promising an abundance of gun-toting and car chases and where blood flows in rivers. Yet, if it’s a good movie it’s worthwhile to check it out. As a die-hard Bollywood lover, I went to see it almost with a sense of duty. And I figured if it’s coming from Mahesh Bhatt’s corner, it cannot be THAT bad.
It didn’t have a strong beginning. The intro to the story had me yawn and my mind began drifting trying to convert rupees into dollars and the subtitles started running away with the setup.. 1,2,3 and I was lost. Oh yes, I reminded myself, small time crook, illegal arms, Emraan Hashmi and 2 hours to go.
Just when I thought, I may as well start napping, this is going to be a Hollywood cross-over, the characters of the movie started coming to life. One by one.
The characters:
Emraan Hashmi as Sonu Dilli, the small time crook, who falls hopelessly in love with ravishing Jhanvi, unknowns to him, daughter of the local don.
Randeep Hooda as ACP Pratap Raghuvanshi, a cop out on revenge and a drinking binge
Esha Gupta as Jhanvi Tomar, the lovely doc, director of a clinic for the poor, it seems.
Mansish Choudary as Mangal Singh Tomar, the vicious don
Sumeet Niijhavan as Sarfaraz, wonderful villaini performance, small role but memorable character, hot.
Modh Zeeshan Ayyub as Balli, the sidekick, as good and innocent as they come
Randeep Hooda, the magnificently dysfunctional cop. What a performance! His screen presence is magnetic. I felt that already in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, where he caught my attention first. This performance puts him right at the top as a new Bollywood force to reckon with, villaini, but I can’t wait to see him as a romantic hero. I bet he’ll be sensational. He has the right timing in delivery, the intensity, it’s just a joy to watch him. The camera work was also great, framing him beautifully portraying him as this dark presence throughout the movie. His filmography is already quite substantial but I hadn’t seen him in most of those movies.
Bollywood’s villains are the BEST!!! nothing compares to them. Sorry, but Hollywood villains can pack up and become sales clerks :-)
The romantic angle: Emraan can’t pull off a convincing romantic hero, you may think, he’s not glamorous enough, tall enough, handsome ‘nough and partly that’s true. Would I fall in love with him? no, visually he’s not a feast, but he has heart. and that transpires in his performances. And the matter of fact is, if a man loves you and treats you like his queen, his rani, he becomes irresistible over time.
The script was interesting and original, the story well-told, the characters well developed. You could feel empathy, even with those villains, which I liked. Kudos to Shagufta Rafiq.
The director of the movie, Kunal Deshmukh and cinematographer Bobby Singh did an outstanding job together. The shooting locations were mesmerizing. The chases very realistic. The camera work and angles worked really well.
Esha Gupta was beautiful, graceful and shining in those music clips.
The music was nice. I loved Rahat Fateh’s song Tu Deedar Hua..
and
Tu Hi mera by Shafqat Amanat Ali
I liked this movie. I liked the way it ended.
Check it out. I’d give it 3.8/5
Good morning, readers, if you are out there…
Big B, Abhishek and Aishwarya in Bunti aur Bubli.
thebollywoodaddict 